BoulevArt

What is BoulevArt?

The City of Rochester's BoulevArt program combines neighborhood traffic calming with community building to result in a truly public piece of art. The purpose of the program is to support neighborhoods seeking to organize and create painted murals on their residential streets.

In addition to beautifying a neighborhood, BoulevArt also achieves a traffic calming effect for areas that experience high traffic volumes or speeding traffic. When a street does not qualify for other traffic calming features like speed humps or stop signs, painting the street has been a proven mechanism for slowing traffic and creating a safer environment.

How does our neighborhood get considered for a BoulevArt project?

Only residential streets (or "local" streets as they're classified by the local Department of Transportation) are candidates for a BoulevArt project. The first step is to contact your Neighborhood Service Center (NSC) administrator with an Expression of Interest letter. Your administrator will act as your sponsor and pass on the letter to the City's Department of Environmental Services, who will decide if the location is a viable candidate for the project. If it is, you will work closely with the City during the permit process and until painting day!

My neighborhood wants to participate in BoulevArt!

First, download the City's BoulevArt policy and see if your neighborhood is a good candidate for a project.

BoulevArt in the Highland Park neighborhood

Rochester's BoulevArt pilot took place in June 2012 in the Highland Park neighborhood at Linden Street and Meigs Street. While we are excited to launch this program locally, Rochester is not a pioneer in street painting- cities like Portland, Oregon and St. Paul, Minnesota have implemented successful neighborhood street painting programs and we have adopted some of their best practices.

All photos below are courtesy of Michael E. Tomb. For a full gallery, visit Smugmug.